Quinn wondered who was at her door at ten o'clock on Christmas night. Her mom had already gone to bed so she heaved herself off of the couch, pausing the zombie movie she was watching.
She pulled open the door and quirked an eyebrow when she saw Rachel standing on the front porch with a wrapped box and a gift bag in hand.
Rachel smiled brightly, "Merry Christmas Quinn."
The blonde still looked skeptical. "What's going on?"
"I heard you couldn't get out of town because of the snow," Rachel explained and offered the presents to Quinn.
When Quinn took them she saw the box was labeled Quinn and the bag had a tag stating 'Quinn's Mom'.
"Merry Christmas," Rachel added and walked away.
"Um... Rachel," Quinn called.
Rachel turned around and put her hand in the pockets of her red wool coat.
"Thank you," Quinn looked at her.
Rachel smiled softly, "You're welcome."
She turned around and started walking off again.
"Rachel?"
"Yes?"
"Do you want to come in? I mean, we have some leftover Chinese food and cider."
Rachel grinned and nodded, "I'd love to."
They walked into the house and Quinn set the presents on the entryway table to take Rachel's coat.
Then Quinn picked the presents back up and led the way to the living room.
"What are you watching?"
"Attack of the Zombies," Quinn answered, "I'm not really feeling Christmasy this year."
"Aww," Rachel grinned, "Christmas Eve is my favorite day of the year." She opened her mouth again but Quinn cut her off.
"Don't start singing," Quinn rolled her eyes.
Rachel lowered her eyes and mumbled, "Sorry."
Quinn sighed, "It's okay. It just... Hasn't been great. It's our first Christmas, just me and my mom. My sister is with her in-laws and we got stuck here. It's... Hard." she took a deep breath and looked at Rachel. Getting the pity look from the small girl definitely wasn't going to make her Christmas Eve any better so she changed the subject, "Do you want something to eat or drink?"
"Cider would be great," Rachel nodded sensing the change in Quinn's attitude.
Quinn nodded and when she came back the TV was off and the gas fire was blazing.
"Sorry. The um... Zombies scared me."
Quinn chuckled and handed Rachel the cider before sinking onto the couch.
"So are you spreading Christmas joy to the other glee club kids?"
"Um just the ones I thought might need it," Rachel confessed, "and Brittany because she's pretty much the only person that's really nice to me."
"Finn's nice to you," Quinn added.
Rachel let out a deep sigh, "Not anymore."
"Oh yeah. I forgot," Quinn felt sorry for the shorter girl and asked, "If it makes you feel any better, Santana was in the dog house with Brittany for over a week because of that."
Rachel shook her head and tried to smile, "I knew something was off." She looked into the mug between her hands.
Quinn studied Rachel for a few seconds. The diva didn't look really broken up about it. She just looked tired. Then she covered it up with a smile, "How's Sam?"
"No idea," Quinn shrugged, "He's off with his family in Maui. He hasn't called me."
"I'm sorry."
"I don't care. He was pretty much an airhead anyway and he always says stupid things that make Brittany seem like a rocket scientist."
Rachel nodded, "I noticed but I wasn't going to say anything."
After a brief awkward silence, Quinn asked, "So who else needed Christmas spirit?"
"I figured Santana would," Rachel added, "but she seemed really happy. Brittany was at her house. Santana was wearing a mistletoe crown and Brittany was right behind her."
"I bet their Christmas present to each other was fun," Quinn offered.
Rachel let out a nervous laugh, "I bet."
"It must be nice ya know?" Quinn leaned against the back of the couch and ran a hand through her hair, "finding your soul mate like that in high school."
"You think they're soul mates?"
Quinn nodded, "I do. For all the hell they put each other through, I really do. I don't know if you've ever noticed but when they look at each other it's like... They forget about the rest of the world."
Rachel nodded. "So you're okay with them being together? Like you don't think they're both going straight to hell?"
Quinn shook her head. "Nah. Do you really think Brittany of all people should go to hell? Santana on the other hand..." she paused while Rachel laughed and added, "no I think people love who they love and it's all beautiful."
"Wow," Rachel raised her eyebrows, "You really surprise me."
Quinn just shrugged. Her eyes drifted to her present under the tree.
"You can open it if you want," Rachel offered.
Quinn crossed the room and picked it up. She carefully picked it up. It was really light and she half expected it to be empty as payback for being mean to Rachel since second grade.
She sat down next to Rachel and ripped open the paper before lifting the lid on the box. When she saw what was inside she slowly reached inside and took out the green cashmere scarf. It felt so soft to the touch and was Quinn's favorite color. It also happened to be what she'd been trying to get Sam to buy her for Christmas. She'd left hints, like commenting on other people's scarves and adding what her favorite kind of scarves were. When he didn't get that she circled it in a magazine and left it open on his bed. He gave her a Teddy bear that she saw him buy from Brittany. Quinn pretended to like it and when he left she gave it back to Brittany.
"I-How did you know?" Quinn asked quietly.
Rachel smiled, "You weren't really subtle about it and I saw what he really got you."
Quinn put it on and unexpectedly hugged Rachel. The diva warmly accepted the hug and felt Quinn linger a little longer than necessary. There was something sad about Quinn's side of it.
"Are you okay?" Rachel asked, lightly rubbing Quinn's back.
Quinn took a shaky breath before pulling away, "Yeah. It's just…you're so nice to me. Why?"
Rachel looked at her hands for a moment before catching Quinn's eyes, "Once upon a time we were friends. And I still like you Quinn, although you infuriate and embarrass me some times."
Quinn chuckled at the slight smile at played upon Rachel's lips as she spoke.
"I still think we could be friends eventually." Rachel offered a tentative smile, "You know, after high school."
Quinn looked at the fire in the fireplace for a few minutes before looking back at Rachel, "I heard that you gave Jacob some of your panties so that he wouldn't write in his blog about when I got pregnant. And although I'm sure you did it more for Finn than for me, thanks."
Rachel slowly shook her head, "I did it for you." She paused to make sure she was holding Quinn's eyes, "I know what it's like to be humiliated in high school. Finn's reputation would have gone up, while yours…"
"Tanked," Quinn finished the thought. She nodded. "I'd be a slut and he'd be a stud." She sighed, and with it her eyes moved to the fireplace again, "Thanks anyway."
Rachel silently scooted a little closer to Quinn on the couch. She turned her eyes to the fire as she spoke, "I know what it's like, you know? Being an outcast. Feeling alone, no matter how many people are around."
Quinn shook her head, trying to convince herself it wasn't true, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Rachel looked down at her hands, "When you look at Brittany and Santana you don't wish you had someone to tell all your secrets to? Or when you see Puck and Finn talking about guy stuff, you don't wish you had someone to relate to?"
The blonde sighed and pulled her knees to her chest, "Way to spread the Christmas cheer."
"I'm sorry," Rachel sighed, "I just…want you to know that I know what it's like and although there are difference circumstances, we're in the same situation."
After giving it some thought, Quinn turned her head to look at Rachel, "Yeah, I guess so."
A few more minutes passed between them before Rachel suggested, "Maybe we could watch the rest of that Zombie movie?"
"I thought the zombies scared you," Quinn raised her eyebrows.
Rachel looked at her hands then to Quinn, "They do, but since you're not in the Christmas spirit and you don't really want to talk and I can tell you don't want to be alone, that seemed like something we could do."
The blonde had to admit, Rachel was right. Christmas and talking were out. Loneliness wasn't fun. Zombies were the solution.
So thirty minutes later, Rachel was hiding behind the pillow she'd snatched off of the back of the couch during a particularly gory scene. Now she was burrowed in the corner of the couch farthest away from the TV, shielding herself behind the pillow.
Quinn had since stopped watching the movie and started watching Rachel. After decided that the diva got too into the movies, she started to become amused by the smaller girl. Just then a zombie jumped into the screen and Rachel jumped.
The blonde immediately reached out and took Rachel's hand, "Jesus, it's just a movie." She pulled Rachel closer to her and the brunette immediately leaned into her, her eyes not leaving the TV.
"Oh my god," Rachel squealed and buried her face in Quinn's shoulder.
Quinn chuckled. She wasn't sure what had happened in the movie, but if she could make it happen again she would. Rachel was extremely amusing right then.
By the time the movie was over, Rachel was practically sitting in Quinn's lap. Rachel had one hand pressed to her chest and the other had a death grip on Quinn's hand. Quinn patted her arm and turned the TV to a sitcom rerun. "Are you okay? You really got into that."
Rachel nodded, "It's a curse. I'm so absorbed into art and acting that I completely lose myself and the world around me." Then she realized that she was still holding Quinn's hand. She immediately dropped it, "See what I mean?"
A soft smile laid across Quinn's face, "It's not a problem. That was fun."
Rachel blushed and looked down. Suddenly Rachel blurted out, "I'm sorry I called you Barbie."
"What?" Quinn looked confused.
Rachel took a deep breath and explained, "I'm sorry I called you Barbie in glee before sectionals. It's been bugging me ever since I said it. I didn't mean it. It just came out."
Quinn chuckled, "Hey I think it's the first time you've ever insulted me. I was kinda impressed."
Rachel let out a small smiled.
"So," Quinn looked around for something to break the silence, "Is there anything you didn't get for Christmas that you wanted?"
The diva shrugged, "Not really. Not something that comes from a store."
"What is it?" Quinn asked, tentatively interested.
"You're going to think this is stupid," Rachel explained, "But I wanted some grand romantic gesture. Just like a surprise kiss or a candid confession of love. I sort of wish for it every year on my birthday and Christmas." Rachel squirmed on the couch, keeping her eyes on the coffee table and swallowed hard, "Stupid huh?"
The blonde looked thoughtful for a moment. "No. It's not stupid."
"Really?" Rachel looked up at Quinn from under the shield of her bangs.
"I think that we all want something like that," Quinn answered with a smile, "Maybe not exactly how you described it, but someone who cares enough to do something like that."
Rachel's phone buzzed in the pocket of her coat and she pulled it out. After briefly looking at the screen she stood up and put her coat on, "My dads want me to come home. They said Santa's not going to put the Broadway tickets I wanted under the tree if they have to stay up much longer."
Quinn smiled and stood up, "Thanks for coming over Rachel. It was really sweet."
Rachel didn't really have a reply so she just smiled back before making her way to the door. She opened the door and stepped out onto the porch before turning around.
"Merry Christmas Quinn," the diva added.
"Look up," Quinn stated.
"What?" Rachel asked, not understanding what Quinn was saying.
The Cheerio pointed up. Rachel followed her finger and saw some mistletoe hanging from the porch light. Rachel raised an eyebrow and looked back at Quinn to ask what that meant, but as soon as she was facing Quinn, the blonde brushed her lips against Rachel's.
Rachel was caught off guard and moaned into the kiss, trying desperately not to have to escape the kiss anytime soon. Quinn's lips were so soft, it was easy to lose herself in.
Eventually, Quinn pulled away. She had a slightly smug, but still sweet smile on her face. "Merry Christmas Rachel."
The singer was speechless for a few seconds before she stammered, "Merry Christmas." She turned and started to walk off, a slow smile spreading across her face.
Quinn giggled and retreated into the house.
"Quinn, wait!" Rachel called as she turned on her heel near the street.
Quinn opened the door again and leaned on the doorframe.
Rachel smiled fully, "Thanks Quinn."
"Merry Christmas," Quinn called back.
They stood still for a few seconds just smiling at each other. Finally a strong wind chilled Rachel so she turned down the sidewalk and made her way back to her house.
Quinn watched her disappear into the night before going back inside and closing the door.